I, once again, begin to worry about how I will find food and water that will keep me alive for however long I will be here in this wasteland of a city. The burning question of 'Why am I here' festers in the back of my mind, but I know that I won't be able to find out the answer if I sit and dwell on it forever. I need to explore the hotel more and try to find other evidence of where I am. I limp over and press the button on the elevator just a few feet away just to see if it will work, but of course it doesn't. It seems as though there hasn't been power here for years. There probably hasn't been, considering the state that the city is in now. I realize that I won't be able to walk up the stairs in the condition that I'm in, and I decide, using the wall for support, that I'm going to walk down the hallway and see what's at the end. There is a single black door at the end of the hallway, but the hallway is wide and has a few destroyed paintings that once must've hung nicely on the walls. I almost open the door at the end of the hallway with my injured wrist, but I stop myself, opening it with my left hand. It's probably going to take a while to get used to not being able to use my right hand. I turn the doorknob, hoping for it to open up into a different world like in some fantasy movie, but all that lays behind it is an old bathroom.
"Wow, so helpful," I say sarcastically.
I bite my tongue in disappointment, wishing it was anything but a bathroom. I sit down on the toilet seat and begin to massage my ankle again. I look around the bathroom. There is gold painted designs on top of the slightly peeling black wallpaper, and there is a classic black and white tiled floor. A small mirror is hanging above the black ceramic sink, and I look into it. My eye is mostly swollen shut with just a little sliver that I can't really see through, and my lips are dry and cracked. There are a couple bruises on my jawbone that I didn't know were there. I attempt to turn on the sink, but, just as I expected, nothing comes out. In the opposite corner, there is a toilet with no water in it and a small bathroom shelf with some stuff on it, including-
"Water bottles!" I yell out excitedly, breaking the silence that has been hanging over the room since I walked into the hallway.
I grab one of the bottles, twisting open the cap and downing it all. My throat still feels dry, but still better than it did when I woke up. I go to reach for another, but then remember something that I read in a book where someone finds water and ends up throwing it all up because they drank so much at once. Hmm, that's strange, this whole situation is so weird and similar to that it's almost like I'm in a book.
I grab most of the water, (there are only six bottles here) and put it in my bag, accidentally putting it on top of the little brass bell in my bag, causing it to ding. I leave one bottle on the counter just in case I lose my bag and continue to look around the bathroom. I come across a little wooden cabinet under the sink, and sit down on the floor in front of the cabinet. I wrap my fingers around the little gold handles and pulled it open, finding that the door was stuck. I slide back a couple inches and try to pull it open again with a little more effort. The door pops open and I look inside the deep cabinet. Sitting on the floor of the cabinet, there was a small radio. Maybe I can make contact with someone somewhere!
I pick up the radio and try to turn it on. I realize that the batteries are far past dead, and open the little plastic hatch in the back where the batteries are kept. I take out the three, dead AA batteries that are inside and throw them in the small trash can next to the sink. I remember that I have a couple batteries in my bag from when I woke up. I open my bag and dig inside to the bottom, careful not to hurt my wrist further, and take the wool blanket out, laying it gently on the floor. I dig deeper into the bottom of my bag to find only two AA batteries, and I sigh. I've got to find another battery somewhere, but then I realize the batteries in my bag could be dead.
"Well, there's now way of knowing if these batteries work unless I have a third one," I say out loud to no one.
I put the two fresh batteries in the radio and put it in my bag, once again causing the little bell to ding in my bag, and realizing that I'm going to have to find another battery somewhere in order to try to make contact with someone. I really wish I knew where I am and who I am, it's just all so frustrating! I realize that the only way I can get answers is if I talk to another human being, and I start to look in the cabinets more for another battery but I don't find any. Then, I remember that most hotels will have a supply closet where they keep things like batteries and extra sheet and stuff. I limp out of the bathroom, accidentally bumping into the door frame due to the fact that I can only see out of one eye, and gasp out in pain from bumping my ribs.
